July 28, 2025 • 29 mins
This week, Cal talks about the Utah public land lawsuit, citizen science, legislation, and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calahan. Here's cal.
If you love running trail cams, the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation needs your help. The agency just
launched a new program they're calling Snapshot New York. This
(00:31):
program asks hunters, wildlife watchers, and other outdoor enthusiasts to
upload photos from their trail cameras. State biologists will use
this data to better understand wildlife populations and make well
informed management decisions. They're particularly interested in getting data from
private land. Over sixty percent of the state is private,
(00:52):
so biologists aren't able to access a majority of the
wildlife habitat. They've divided the state into about forty five
hundred grids, and they're hoping they'll get enough volunteers to
have as many cameras in each cell as possible. If
you don't have your own trail cam, the program will
offer cameras you can rent. All you have to do
is download the Snapshot New York app and upload your
(01:15):
photos every two weeks. That will hopefully generate millions of photos,
and I assume the New York Department of Environmental Conservation
will analyze them using some kind of AI software. Anyone
can participate, even if they have no prior experience using
trail cams, though I imagine they're really counting on hunters to
step up. If you live in New York, I'd encourage
(01:36):
you to participate. This is a cool opportunity to be
a part of what could be a groundbreaking way to
collect data on a massive scale. I'll be very curious
to see what the New York Wildlife Agency is able
to find out in the months and years ahead. Big
thanks to listener Ryan Sinclair for sending that one. In
This week, we've got cutbait. Diamonds aren't forever, but the
(01:59):
chemicals are. Utah lawsuit update and so much more of it. First,
I'm going to tell you about my week, and my
week was totally different. I was in class, which is
odd for me, especially when it's not like a policeman.
Dated this time in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, I was attending a
few days of Army War College. My buddy and fellow
(02:22):
BHA board member Jeff Jones, very soon to be Colonel
Jeff Jones, and Brand Spank, a new graduate of Army
War College asked if I'd be interested in attending. There's
an application process, a selection process, background check, and then
you're in. I should also mention there's a dress code,
(02:42):
which you may imagine I don't do well with. My
interpretation of formal business, casual and casual is not that
of others. I've come to realize the heavy lifting of
two years of class is essentially wrapped up for the students.
Graduation is at the end of the week. We the
civilian guests, dropped in the Sunday prior to the week,
(03:05):
and then we popped out Thursday, which happens to be today.
Got up at three forty five Pennsylvania time, recording here
from sunny Bos Angelus. During these couple of days, we
got to quote, get to know the Army and each other,
lots of great discussion. In the seminar I attended Seminar
(03:26):
twenty four, we had primarily colonels and soon to be colonels,
many of which are Army, but also a marine, a
Space Force soldier which is called a guardian, and airman
nsa State Department Foreign Services, and then you know the
couple of US civilians sitting in I should also point
(03:46):
out that in other seminars there'd be like some foreign
students Allied nations in attendance for War College as well.
The whole purpose of this, well, I guess the whole
purpose of a civilian in attendance such as myself is
you get to get a little visibility behind the curtain,
(04:07):
so to speak, some transparency into our quote war machine
or peace machine, whichever way you choose to look at it. Specifically,
why I was selected could be a diversity answer. You know,
they want primarily civilians without prior military experience to attend,
who may you know, provide some perspective in class they
(04:30):
wouldn't typically get. And then ideally, you know, fall goes
well you speak favorably of your experience there at Army
War College. You know, they depend on funding as well.
There's a huge professional networking opportunity here. There's definitely a
bunch of active duty officers I met that are going
(04:50):
to be retiring soon, so it's good for them to
rub elbows with some civilians, right, And the group of
civilians or very impressive in their backgrounds and careers just
kind of a funny deal. The very first two people
that I met, we were on the super late flight
getting in together. You get picked up by military personality,
(05:12):
you know, they take you to the hotel. And one
fellow was a professor through the BYU system who had
written a dissertation on the probability and likelihood of Russia
taking over Crime and the Baltic States. And he said, yeah,
so I wrote that seventeen years ago, and for the
(05:34):
last two years I've been very popular, and that's why
he was there. And then very impressive person from South
Dakota who was in cyber defense, civilian. She was actually living,
working and I think from South Dakota, cybersecurity, cyber defense,
(05:55):
lots of accolades in her background. And then when they
were so why are you here? I was like, boy,
after meeting you two, I really do not know. But
I was there and it was great. The other networking
part of this would be I guess internal, right, So
if you think there's nsa state department, Department of Defense,
(06:18):
your military branch is all represented in these little broken
out classrooms, these seminars, that type of connectivity can really
come in handy down the road. So the war college, right,
is like you're teaching future leaders, you're investing in future leadership,
and then all that brain power gets split up once
(06:40):
again to the different branches, and they're different functions. But
you can imagine as time goes on, there's a high
likelihood that these people are going to be working together
or adjacent to each other in some capacity. Once you
get high enough up in the military, it's pretty small
from what I've been told. So these connections help a
ton and communication and trust building down the road. About
(07:03):
two percent of our military achieves the rank of colonel.
Less than one percent make it to general. If that
helps it all. And yeah, colonel to general is like
the progression. In case you're wondering, that's just a little
tiny tidbit of one thing I learned at my week
in war college. Honestly learned way too much to talk
(07:24):
about here. Maybe I can coerce General Hill, the Commandant,
to come onto the podcast and do this a little
bit more justice. Another fun fact, you know, got to
like sit down and you know bs with the two
star general, which is not an experience I've had before.
General Hill over there is, you know, very gracious with
his time. I'm sure he didn't know me from Adam,
(07:46):
and a very impressive fella to chat with, and you know,
it's his job to talk to the civilians that week
and make a good impression. I'm sure so he definitely
did it, and it was again super impressive. To keep
this shorter, My biggest take home is there's just a
(08:09):
bunch of really impressive people assembled there. I can, for
the most part, only speak to my seminar again, Seminar
twenty four aka the Sickle Cell, which is an inside
joke I don't have time for, and then make assumptions
that there's a lot of other impressive people and the
other seminars impressive. How you may ask, Well, this may
(08:30):
not sound like much, but we went to a lot
of talks right by folks with serious bona fittis, and
then we would get in back to our seminars and
getting these big, thoughtful discussions, a lot of thoughtful discussions
based on some sometimes pretty prickly topics. And for me,
(08:51):
it makes me feel good as a tax paying citizen
that the folks getting up near the top of the
big brass pile are smart, thoughtful people who have the
ability to listen, actually receive information and then offer their
own information in not absolute terms, info that comes from
(09:11):
experience and education, but also open to the idea that
it can and should be peeled apart and examined. Our
seminar had achieved a level of trust that isn't very
common in my professional experience, and that gives me great
confidence in those particular you know, military leaders or foreign
(09:32):
affairs leaders. Who knows what the NSA does? You know, Superspy,
I'm assuming tons more to say here, but we got
to get onto the news. Moving on to the men
Hayden desk, a new study is shedding light on the
impact of the commercial men Hayden fishing industry on game
(09:53):
fish populations along the Louisiana coast. Man hayden, also known
as bunka or small forage fish fish that are used
to make fish oil, fish meal, and animal feeds. They
are caught using sane nets, which catch whatever happens to
be in their way. Recreational anglers have long complained how
these nets kill the fish thereafter, as in non bunker,
(10:15):
and this new study claims to put some numbers on
the bycatch problem. During the twenty twenty four fishing season,
man Hayden boats in Louisiana were estimated to have killed
millions of non target fish species, including eighty one million croker,
twenty five million sand and sea trout, at least twenty
two thousand breeding size redfish, as well as other species
(10:37):
such as black drum and cow No's rays. The report
was funded by the Louisiana Legislature and researchers presented findings
to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Chris mclouso, director
of the Center for Fisheries and Mississippi River Programs for
the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, told Meat Eater that the
results of the study are concerning, particularly for the states
(10:59):
and battled red fish, and they confirm the worries of
anglers concerned about anecdotal sightings of dead game fish near
men haden boats. Quote, It's really hard to think of
any other fish and game management system in which things
like this are allowed. We knew there was significant by catch,
but the industry always downplayed it. Now we have hard numbers.
(11:20):
Of course, bycatch isn't the only problem recreational anglers have
with the man hayden industry. As I mentioned, men haden
are forage fish, meaning their food for other bigger fish,
many of which we enjoy targeting and catching. Every man
hayden that gets caught by a commercial fishing company, many
of which are owned by foreign companies, is one less
fish that can feed a red drum, seatrout, croker, heck, marlin, tuna, whatever.
(11:46):
The man haden industry downplaying the results of the study,
They claimed in a press release that recreational anglers remove
nearly ninety seven percent of red drum every year. That's right,
the roden real folks catch ninety seven percent of red drum,
not the folks with the big giant nets. It is
true that recreational anglers in Louisiana catch millions of redfish annually,
(12:09):
but those fish are within the slot limit imposed by
the state to protect the declining population. The twenty two
thousand redfish cop by men haden boats are all breeding size,
which have a more significant impact on the fishery. It's
also unclear how the men haden harvest impacts the ability
of redfish to find food. If there weren't millions of
pounds of men hayden harvested every year, would Louisiana's redfish
(12:32):
population be doing better. No one knows for sure now
It's worth pointing out that the men hayden industry isn't
the only or even the primary cause of declining redfish numbers.
Chris maclouso told Sage Marshall in an article over at
the Meat Eater dot Com that habitat loss along the
Mississippian overfishing the past decade have also precipitated a decline.
(12:54):
But considering these larger problems, by catch by men hayden
boats might be the straw that breaks the cammel's back.
That's a tough pill to swallow for Louisiana anglers, especially
since the latest round of regulations shrank the recreational slot
and creole limits. If we have to make sacrifices to
keep the fishery healthy, it seems like the man haden
boats should have to as well. Keep in mind, these
(13:16):
fish get fished not just in the Gulf, but over
in the Chest Peak and all the way up the Atlantic.
Moving on to the Pea fast Desk, bad news to
New Mexico. Your state is home to some of the
highest concentrations of forever chemicals found anywhere in the world.
Big thanks to Jim Lane for sending this one. In
(13:36):
New research from the University of New Mexico has found
that Holoman Lake, in the southern portion of the state,
contains a massive concentration of forever chemicals, also known as pfasts,
which stands for per and polyfloral alkali substances. We've covered
this modern pollutant quite a bit on this show. Forever
chemicals are found in many waterproofing substances, and they're extremely
(13:58):
difficult to get rid of. Holloman Lake has such a
high concentration of them because just a little ways upstream,
the US military used to operate a firefighting training center there.
Fire retardant foam is made from pfast chemicals. The lake
was open to waterfowl hunters until last year, when initial
research indicated high levels of forever chemicals. And when I
(14:19):
say hi, I mean hi. Researchers tested everything the water,
the animals, and plants, and the results were troubling. The
lake water held the highest concentration of pfasts of any
water body in the world, ten thousand times greater than
the EPA's drinking water standards. Same goes for the plants,
with one plant composite sample earning the record for the
(14:40):
highest p FAST concentrations anywhere to date, the animals have
been suffering too. Researchers found a kill deer chick dead
near its nest, and when they tested it for forever chemicals,
found extremely high concentrations in its tissue. And I just
got to say, we shouldn't judge things by how cute
they are, but that little fuzzy ping pong ball on
(15:03):
toothpicks that we call a kill deer chick is pretty
darn cute. Concerns about hunters come up quite a bit
in this study. I've already mentioned that this lake was
open to waterfowl hunters until just last year, but researchers
also pointed out that waterfowl downstream of the lake and
in nearby areas could also contain high levels of the chemical.
(15:24):
As we all know, ducks and geese don't just stay
in one spot. I try to put a bunch of
them on my barbecue, which is concerning. Scientists also observed
a herd of ORX visiting Holoman Lake on a regular basis.
ORX can be hunted in New Mexico, so there is
the possibility that hunters might ingest contaminated meat. The scientists
are working with the New Mexico Department of Game and
(15:46):
Fish to evaluate that risk. And that is the million
dollar question, what exactly is the risk? No one wants
fire foam chemicals in their body, but how much will
it actually hurt you? There still aren't great answers as
to the long term effects of these chemicals if you
ingest them by the flesh of a fish or animal,
but I wouldn't eat it on a regular basis or
(16:08):
feed it to a child or pregnant woman. It's also
important to understand that the highest concentrations of these chemicals
are in the liver. I love a liver pata as
much as the next guy, but if I harvest an
animal near a military base or industrial plant, I'll probably
give that one a pass. Moving on to the legal desk.
(16:32):
Remember last year when Utah filed a lawsuit with the
Supreme Court to force the BLM to sell about nineteen
million acres of public land. Most hunters and anglers didn't
get involved in the public land fight until earlier this year,
but if you were listening to this podcast, you know
that the lawsuit was really the beginning of this latest battle.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the suit, but they
(16:53):
didn't weigh in on the merits, meaning they didn't say
whether or not Utah had a good legal case. They
just said Mike and his buddies couldn't skip the lower
courts and go straight to the Supreme Court. The justices
advised Utah to refile the case in a lower federal
court and allow it to work its way through the process.
A lot of us have been wondering whether Utah will
(17:14):
indeed follow the court's advice. Will they take another bite
at the apple or lick their wounds and go home.
We still don't know for sure, but a recent court
hearing has given us some clues. As reported in an
outlet called News from the States, representatives from Utah said
that they may refile the case, but it's not guaranteed.
Lance Sorenson, an attorney representing the state, told the court quote,
(17:38):
maybe the burning question is when will that case get refiled.
I can tell you it's under consideration, but it's not
guaranteed that it will even be filed again. And so
as we stand here today, there is no federal lawsuit
and there may never be one, which I think underscores
our argument that there's really no case here. Sorensen was
(17:58):
forced to give that non end answer because an environmentalist
group called Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has asked the court
to bar Utah from ever filing a similar public land
grab ever again. They say the lawsuit violated Utah state constitution,
and they want the District Court to rule now, even
before the state refiles it. The judge may have handed
down his decision by the time you listen to this,
(18:21):
But I'm going to go out on a limb and
say he'll side with Utah. Judges aren't keen on making
a ruling on a case that doesn't yet exist, even
if it did exist just a few months prior. I'll
also make another prediction. Utah will definitely file the case again.
Mike Lee's defeat in Congress may give them pause, but
I bet they think the Supreme Court is on their side.
(18:42):
If they wait, one of their allies on the bench
might die or retire. So I think we'll see this
case resurrected before too long. When they do, they'll try
to claim again that they want to transfer the land
from federal to state ownership. We're not taking away public land,
They'll say, we're just letting the states manage it that
was a lie, then it'll be a lie in the future.
(19:03):
But now Utah has admitted it. Time for another legislative roundup.
A lot happening lately as usual. A bipartisan bill titled
the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act has passed
the US Senate and is now on its way to
the House. The bill was sponsored by three Republican senators
(19:23):
from Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, major red snapper fishing states.
It instructs the National Institute of Standards and Technology and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a fast
acting test to determine the origin of fish suspected of
being poached. Alabama Senator Katie Britt and her fellow Gulf
(19:44):
state sponsors assert that Mexican fishing boats are entering US
waters to take advantage of the denser schools of red
snapper created by fishery protections. The poached fish are then
sold into the US market at lower prices, threatening the species,
undermining a maria and commercial fishing operators, and allegedly funneling
money to drug cartels. The bill references a rapid test
(20:06):
recently developed by scientists at Florida State University that confirms
whether a fish is a real McCoy red snapper. This
test reduces the species testing time from multiple days to
under two hours. But this bill might run into a
couple problems. First, although the Florida State test could catch
other fish species being sold as red snapper, it's not
clear whether it's possible for a test to determine where
(20:29):
a particular red snapper was caught. The genetics of a
fish caught in US waters are likely identical to one
caught off the coast of Mexico. Second, the Trump administration
has announced plans to cut one third of the annual
budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of
the agencies who is supposed to develop the test and
(20:49):
guide its deployment. Maybe the Illegal Red Snapper in Tuna
Enforcement Act would add ammunition to the ongoing House effort
to reduce the NOAH cuts to just six percent of
the current budget. No matter what, we'll keep our eyes
fixed on the Illegal Red Snapper in Tuna Enforcement Act
and see what develops. Staying on the high seas, Florida
(21:10):
recently enacted the so called Boater Freedom Act, which ends
the ability of state and local law enforcement to conduct
routine boat searches unless they have probable cause to do so.
Until now, as in other states, the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Commission could conduct cooler checks to make sure anglers
were fishing in season and abiding by catching size limits.
(21:31):
This is just like a game ward and checking your
bag or truck to see, for example, what you have
in there lead shot, steel shot, valid duck stamp, or
maybe one too many mallards. In defending the law, Florida
Governor On DeSantis compared the kind of routine boat check
to a violation of personal autonomy, saying, quote, if you're
walking down the street, law enforcement can't just go up
(21:51):
to you and stop you and search you. Desanta seems
to be forgetting about Florida Statute nine oh one point
one point five to one, also known as the stop
and Frisk law, which allows for exactly that police can
detain any person if circumstances quote unquote reasonably indicate that
criminal activity might be taking place well short of the
voter Freedom Acts probable cause threshold. Now, I'm not weighing
(22:15):
in either way on stopping frisk. I'm just trying to
see consistency in the application of law enforcement regardless of
whether or not a Florida resident owns a boat. Anyway,
Critics of the Boater Freedom Act reasonably worry about its
effects on fish poaching. Former Florida Wildlife Commission Officer Alan
Richard told the Miami Herald quote, bag limits are irrelevant
(22:38):
if you can't stop a boat and check them. This
one is already law on the books, so it might
be a couple of years before we're able to see
its effect on Florida fish populations. But taking away a
well established tool for conservation enforcement seems like a bad idea.
We'll have to wait and see. The seemingly endless saga
of efforts to delist the grizzly bear from the endangereds
(23:00):
Act added another chapter. This week, the US House Committee
on Natural Resources past House Resolution two eighty one, which
directs the Secretary of the Interior to remove the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem population of bears from the ESA. That measure
will now go to a full vote by the House
of Representatives. I'm conflicted here. I one hundred percent agree
(23:20):
that the gye populations of grizzlies should be delisted. As
we passed the recovery target for bears a long time ago.
A population comeback like this is exactly what the ESA
was designed to do. States should, of course manage hunts
for grizzlies with the same conservation science they apply to
any other species. At the same time, I've never been
a fan of elected officials enacting wildlife policy through legislation,
(23:44):
so this bill would establish a pretty dangerous federal precedent. Still,
the sponsors of the bill point to the Shenanigans of
twenty seventeen, when they Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that
the grizzly should come off the list, just as they
are rightfully authorized to do, but was then challenged in
federal court and delayed long enough for the Biden administration
(24:04):
to come into office, and under new leadership, Fish and
Wildlife withdrew the delisting ruling for plainly political reasons. Taking
lessons from the court hold up. House Resolution two eighty
one would therefore remove judicial review from the grizzly ESA ruling. Again,
I am firmly for delisting these bears, but eliminating legal
review of wildlife law also seems like extremely dangerous precedent.
(24:28):
It's going to be interesting to see what happens when
this bill comes to the floor of Congress. Four Republican
members of the Natural Resources Committee sat out this vote,
which tells you that this issue is a real hot
potato for lawmakers in both parties. So it's by no
means a sure thing that this bill would become law. Nevertheless,
I get a bad feeling about managing wildlife by legislation.
(24:50):
So even if you are an aspiring lower forty eight
grizzly hunter like myself, you may want to encourage your
reps to get the old grizzerbear delisted. The old FACI
Way House Resolution to eighty one may not be the
right path. Sticking with the bruin beet us. Rep. Shri
Tanadar of Michigan has introduced the Don't Feed the Bear's Bill,
(25:12):
whose name seems promising. Will this bill prohibit people from
feeding bears grain and molasses in their backyards? Will it
provide funding for sealed garbage cans and bear hotspot states?
Maybe start a children's educational program about why you gotta
not leave food out, and you know, teach bears that
humans give you food. Alas, No, that's too lofty of
(25:37):
a goal. I suppose Tanadar's bill would instead prohibit hunters
from setting out food on federal public land with the
intent to attract black bears. Tanadar said the bill was
primarily a safety measure to prevent bears from getting habituated
to human food, but federal public land isn't where bears
mainly get into conflict with people. The real drama unfolds
(25:57):
in subdivisions around the bird feeders, bulls, dog food, and
trash cans. In fact, state fishing game agencies use regulated
baiting to successfully manage black bear populations. We talk to
Meat Eater's resident bear guy, Clay Nukeom for comment. He said, quote,
Baiting bears allows hunters to be selective in their harvest.
I see it as a great tool for bear management.
(26:17):
They're chipping away at our methods. I ain't for it.
Baiting gives hunters time to observe the bears coming into
the food source, allowing them to distinguish between a male
bear they can target from a female who might have
cubs nearby, and states often can't control bear numbers to
maintain a healthy carrying capacity without allowing baiting. Tena Doar's
bill now heads to the House Committee on Natural Resources,
(26:40):
which will probably pose a significant hurdle. Still, we'll keep
our eyes on this one and sound the alarm if
it gets to a floor vote. Tough news out of
South Dakota. After years of declining sagegrouse populations, officials have
announced that the native species has likely been extirpated from
the state. During its spring population survey this year, the
(27:01):
Game and Fish Department was not able to locate a
single sage grouse lek. A lek, by the way, spelled
l e k, is defined as a group mating display
where several males exhibit their genetic superiority for prospective mates.
The term comes from the Swedish word lekka, which means
the relaxed play of children. The more you know. Through vocalization, streading,
(27:23):
chest puffing, even excreting scent chemicals, as in the case
of the Mediterranean fruit fly, the fellas in a lek
try to convince the ladies to choose them. Lex are
distinguished from other mating displays because they don't demonstrate any
material benefit to the female, like food or shelter. Female
sage grouse raise their young without help from males, so
they're just looking for a hunky dance partner, not a
(27:46):
long term provider anyway. Because male sage grouse come out
in the open and make a bunch of noise and movements,
lex are the best place to observe and count them.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department upland Game Management Supervisor
Jesse Kohlar told Iany News quote, It's not unusual for
lex to blip out and reactivate when populations rebound, but
(28:06):
with our state population completely drying up, I don't expect
we'll experience those rebounds unless sage grouse disperse from Montana
or South Dakota. Sage grouse have had a tough go
in recent decades as their habitat has been lost and
fragmented by invasive plants, energy development, electrical transmission lines, and
residential sprawl. We talked about delisting grizzlies earlier, but it
(28:29):
could be time to list sage grouse under the Endangered
Species Act. Seems like a tall order because sage grouse
don't typically go hand in hand with energy development, especially
those darn wind towers, transmission lines, tall structures of any kind.
They won't nest anywhere near them. For an in depth
look at this issue, head over to the Mediator dot
(28:50):
com read Sage Marshall's fantastic recent article. Additionally, we'll have
my good friend Ted Cook of the North American Grouse
Partnership on one of our interview episodes coming up here
real quick. As a special sign off, big thank you
to all of our men and women in the Arms services.
In whatever capacity you serve, you make set a high
(29:15):
bar for what a civilians called dedication and commitment. Hats
off to you. Appreciate you doing what you do. That's
all I got for you this week, right in. Let
me know what's going on in your neck of the woods,
and I'll talk to you again soon
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calahan. Here's cal.
If you love running trail cams, the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation needs your help. The agency just
launched a new program they're calling Snapshot New York. This
(00:31):
program asks hunters, wildlife watchers, and other outdoor enthusiasts to
upload photos from their trail cameras. State biologists will use
this data to better understand wildlife populations and make well
informed management decisions. They're particularly interested in getting data from
private land. Over sixty percent of the state is private,
(00:52):
so biologists aren't able to access a majority of the
wildlife habitat. They've divided the state into about forty five
hundred grids, and they're hoping they'll get enough volunteers to
have as many cameras in each cell as possible. If
you don't have your own trail cam, the program will
offer cameras you can rent. All you have to do
is download the Snapshot New York app and upload your
(01:15):
photos every two weeks. That will hopefully generate millions of photos,
and I assume the New York Department of Environmental Conservation
will analyze them using some kind of AI software. Anyone
can participate, even if they have no prior experience using
trail cams, though I imagine they're really counting on hunters to
step up. If you live in New York, I'd encourage
(01:36):
you to participate. This is a cool opportunity to be
a part of what could be a groundbreaking way to
collect data on a massive scale. I'll be very curious
to see what the New York Wildlife Agency is able
to find out in the months and years ahead. Big
thanks to listener Ryan Sinclair for sending that one. In
This week, we've got cutbait. Diamonds aren't forever, but the
(01:59):
chemicals are. Utah lawsuit update and so much more of it. First,
I'm going to tell you about my week, and my
week was totally different. I was in class, which is
odd for me, especially when it's not like a policeman.
Dated this time in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, I was attending a
few days of Army War College. My buddy and fellow
(02:22):
BHA board member Jeff Jones, very soon to be Colonel
Jeff Jones, and Brand Spank, a new graduate of Army
War College asked if I'd be interested in attending. There's
an application process, a selection process, background check, and then
you're in. I should also mention there's a dress code,
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which you may imagine I don't do well with. My
interpretation of formal business, casual and casual is not that
of others. I've come to realize the heavy lifting of
two years of class is essentially wrapped up for the students.
Graduation is at the end of the week. We the
civilian guests, dropped in the Sunday prior to the week,
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and then we popped out Thursday, which happens to be today.
Got up at three forty five Pennsylvania time, recording here
from sunny Bos Angelus. During these couple of days, we
got to quote, get to know the Army and each other,
lots of great discussion. In the seminar I attended Seminar
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twenty four, we had primarily colonels and soon to be colonels,
many of which are Army, but also a marine, a
Space Force soldier which is called a guardian, and airman
nsa State Department Foreign Services, and then you know the
couple of US civilians sitting in I should also point
(03:46):
out that in other seminars there'd be like some foreign
students Allied nations in attendance for War College as well.
The whole purpose of this, well, I guess the whole
purpose of a civilian in attendance such as myself is
you get to get a little visibility behind the curtain,
(04:07):
so to speak, some transparency into our quote war machine
or peace machine, whichever way you choose to look at it. Specifically,
why I was selected could be a diversity answer. You know,
they want primarily civilians without prior military experience to attend,
who may you know, provide some perspective in class they
(04:30):
wouldn't typically get. And then ideally, you know, fall goes
well you speak favorably of your experience there at Army
War College. You know, they depend on funding as well.
There's a huge professional networking opportunity here. There's definitely a
bunch of active duty officers I met that are going
(04:50):
to be retiring soon, so it's good for them to
rub elbows with some civilians, right, And the group of
civilians or very impressive in their backgrounds and careers just
kind of a funny deal. The very first two people
that I met, we were on the super late flight
getting in together. You get picked up by military personality,
(05:12):
you know, they take you to the hotel. And one
fellow was a professor through the BYU system who had
written a dissertation on the probability and likelihood of Russia
taking over Crime and the Baltic States. And he said, yeah,
so I wrote that seventeen years ago, and for the
(05:34):
last two years I've been very popular, and that's why
he was there. And then very impressive person from South
Dakota who was in cyber defense, civilian. She was actually living,
working and I think from South Dakota, cybersecurity, cyber defense,
(05:55):
lots of accolades in her background. And then when they
were so why are you here? I was like, boy,
after meeting you two, I really do not know. But
I was there and it was great. The other networking
part of this would be I guess internal, right, So
if you think there's nsa state department, Department of Defense,
(06:18):
your military branch is all represented in these little broken
out classrooms, these seminars, that type of connectivity can really
come in handy down the road. So the war college, right,
is like you're teaching future leaders, you're investing in future leadership,
and then all that brain power gets split up once
(06:40):
again to the different branches, and they're different functions. But
you can imagine as time goes on, there's a high
likelihood that these people are going to be working together
or adjacent to each other in some capacity. Once you
get high enough up in the military, it's pretty small
from what I've been told. So these connections help a
ton and communication and trust building down the road. About
(07:03):
two percent of our military achieves the rank of colonel.
Less than one percent make it to general. If that
helps it all. And yeah, colonel to general is like
the progression. In case you're wondering, that's just a little
tiny tidbit of one thing I learned at my week
in war college. Honestly learned way too much to talk
(07:24):
about here. Maybe I can coerce General Hill, the Commandant,
to come onto the podcast and do this a little
bit more justice. Another fun fact, you know, got to
like sit down and you know bs with the two
star general, which is not an experience I've had before.
General Hill over there is, you know, very gracious with
his time. I'm sure he didn't know me from Adam,
(07:46):
and a very impressive fella to chat with, and you know,
it's his job to talk to the civilians that week
and make a good impression. I'm sure so he definitely
did it, and it was again super impressive. To keep
this shorter, My biggest take home is there's just a
(08:09):
bunch of really impressive people assembled there. I can, for
the most part, only speak to my seminar again, Seminar
twenty four aka the Sickle Cell, which is an inside
joke I don't have time for, and then make assumptions
that there's a lot of other impressive people and the
other seminars impressive. How you may ask, Well, this may
(08:30):
not sound like much, but we went to a lot
of talks right by folks with serious bona fittis, and
then we would get in back to our seminars and
getting these big, thoughtful discussions, a lot of thoughtful discussions
based on some sometimes pretty prickly topics. And for me,
(08:51):
it makes me feel good as a tax paying citizen
that the folks getting up near the top of the
big brass pile are smart, thoughtful people who have the
ability to listen, actually receive information and then offer their
own information in not absolute terms, info that comes from
(09:11):
experience and education, but also open to the idea that
it can and should be peeled apart and examined. Our
seminar had achieved a level of trust that isn't very
common in my professional experience, and that gives me great
confidence in those particular you know, military leaders or foreign
(09:32):
affairs leaders. Who knows what the NSA does? You know, Superspy,
I'm assuming tons more to say here, but we got
to get onto the news. Moving on to the men
Hayden desk, a new study is shedding light on the
impact of the commercial men Hayden fishing industry on game
(09:53):
fish populations along the Louisiana coast. Man hayden, also known
as bunka or small forage fish fish that are used
to make fish oil, fish meal, and animal feeds. They
are caught using sane nets, which catch whatever happens to
be in their way. Recreational anglers have long complained how
these nets kill the fish thereafter, as in non bunker,
(10:15):
and this new study claims to put some numbers on
the bycatch problem. During the twenty twenty four fishing season,
man Hayden boats in Louisiana were estimated to have killed
millions of non target fish species, including eighty one million croker,
twenty five million sand and sea trout, at least twenty
two thousand breeding size redfish, as well as other species
(10:37):
such as black drum and cow No's rays. The report
was funded by the Louisiana Legislature and researchers presented findings
to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Chris mclouso, director
of the Center for Fisheries and Mississippi River Programs for
the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, told Meat Eater that the
results of the study are concerning, particularly for the states
(10:59):
and battled red fish, and they confirm the worries of
anglers concerned about anecdotal sightings of dead game fish near
men haden boats. Quote, It's really hard to think of
any other fish and game management system in which things
like this are allowed. We knew there was significant by catch,
but the industry always downplayed it. Now we have hard numbers.
(11:20):
Of course, bycatch isn't the only problem recreational anglers have
with the man hayden industry. As I mentioned, men haden
are forage fish, meaning their food for other bigger fish,
many of which we enjoy targeting and catching. Every man
hayden that gets caught by a commercial fishing company, many
of which are owned by foreign companies, is one less
fish that can feed a red drum, seatrout, croker, heck, marlin, tuna, whatever.
(11:46):
The man haden industry downplaying the results of the study,
They claimed in a press release that recreational anglers remove
nearly ninety seven percent of red drum every year. That's right,
the roden real folks catch ninety seven percent of red drum,
not the folks with the big giant nets. It is
true that recreational anglers in Louisiana catch millions of redfish annually,
(12:09):
but those fish are within the slot limit imposed by
the state to protect the declining population. The twenty two
thousand redfish cop by men haden boats are all breeding size,
which have a more significant impact on the fishery. It's
also unclear how the men haden harvest impacts the ability
of redfish to find food. If there weren't millions of
pounds of men hayden harvested every year, would Louisiana's redfish
(12:32):
population be doing better. No one knows for sure now
It's worth pointing out that the men hayden industry isn't
the only or even the primary cause of declining redfish numbers.
Chris maclouso told Sage Marshall in an article over at
the Meat Eater dot Com that habitat loss along the
Mississippian overfishing the past decade have also precipitated a decline.
(12:54):
But considering these larger problems, by catch by men hayden
boats might be the straw that breaks the cammel's back.
That's a tough pill to swallow for Louisiana anglers, especially
since the latest round of regulations shrank the recreational slot
and creole limits. If we have to make sacrifices to
keep the fishery healthy, it seems like the man haden
boats should have to as well. Keep in mind, these
(13:16):
fish get fished not just in the Gulf, but over
in the Chest Peak and all the way up the Atlantic.
Moving on to the Pea fast Desk, bad news to
New Mexico. Your state is home to some of the
highest concentrations of forever chemicals found anywhere in the world.
Big thanks to Jim Lane for sending this one. In
(13:36):
New research from the University of New Mexico has found
that Holoman Lake, in the southern portion of the state,
contains a massive concentration of forever chemicals, also known as pfasts,
which stands for per and polyfloral alkali substances. We've covered
this modern pollutant quite a bit on this show. Forever
chemicals are found in many waterproofing substances, and they're extremely
(13:58):
difficult to get rid of. Holloman Lake has such a
high concentration of them because just a little ways upstream,
the US military used to operate a firefighting training center there.
Fire retardant foam is made from pfast chemicals. The lake
was open to waterfowl hunters until last year, when initial
research indicated high levels of forever chemicals. And when I
(14:19):
say hi, I mean hi. Researchers tested everything the water,
the animals, and plants, and the results were troubling. The
lake water held the highest concentration of pfasts of any
water body in the world, ten thousand times greater than
the EPA's drinking water standards. Same goes for the plants,
with one plant composite sample earning the record for the
(14:40):
highest p FAST concentrations anywhere to date, the animals have
been suffering too. Researchers found a kill deer chick dead
near its nest, and when they tested it for forever chemicals,
found extremely high concentrations in its tissue. And I just
got to say, we shouldn't judge things by how cute
they are, but that little fuzzy ping pong ball on
(15:03):
toothpicks that we call a kill deer chick is pretty
darn cute. Concerns about hunters come up quite a bit
in this study. I've already mentioned that this lake was
open to waterfowl hunters until just last year, but researchers
also pointed out that waterfowl downstream of the lake and
in nearby areas could also contain high levels of the chemical.
(15:24):
As we all know, ducks and geese don't just stay
in one spot. I try to put a bunch of
them on my barbecue, which is concerning. Scientists also observed
a herd of ORX visiting Holoman Lake on a regular basis.
ORX can be hunted in New Mexico, so there is
the possibility that hunters might ingest contaminated meat. The scientists
are working with the New Mexico Department of Game and
(15:46):
Fish to evaluate that risk. And that is the million
dollar question, what exactly is the risk? No one wants
fire foam chemicals in their body, but how much will
it actually hurt you? There still aren't great answers as
to the long term effects of these chemicals if you
ingest them by the flesh of a fish or animal,
but I wouldn't eat it on a regular basis or
(16:08):
feed it to a child or pregnant woman. It's also
important to understand that the highest concentrations of these chemicals
are in the liver. I love a liver pata as
much as the next guy, but if I harvest an
animal near a military base or industrial plant, I'll probably
give that one a pass. Moving on to the legal desk.
(16:32):
Remember last year when Utah filed a lawsuit with the
Supreme Court to force the BLM to sell about nineteen
million acres of public land. Most hunters and anglers didn't
get involved in the public land fight until earlier this year,
but if you were listening to this podcast, you know
that the lawsuit was really the beginning of this latest battle.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the suit, but they
(16:53):
didn't weigh in on the merits, meaning they didn't say
whether or not Utah had a good legal case. They
just said Mike and his buddies couldn't skip the lower
courts and go straight to the Supreme Court. The justices
advised Utah to refile the case in a lower federal
court and allow it to work its way through the process.
A lot of us have been wondering whether Utah will
(17:14):
indeed follow the court's advice. Will they take another bite
at the apple or lick their wounds and go home.
We still don't know for sure, but a recent court
hearing has given us some clues. As reported in an
outlet called News from the States, representatives from Utah said
that they may refile the case, but it's not guaranteed.
Lance Sorenson, an attorney representing the state, told the court quote,
(17:38):
maybe the burning question is when will that case get refiled.
I can tell you it's under consideration, but it's not
guaranteed that it will even be filed again. And so
as we stand here today, there is no federal lawsuit
and there may never be one, which I think underscores
our argument that there's really no case here. Sorensen was
(17:58):
forced to give that non end answer because an environmentalist
group called Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has asked the court
to bar Utah from ever filing a similar public land
grab ever again. They say the lawsuit violated Utah state constitution,
and they want the District Court to rule now, even
before the state refiles it. The judge may have handed
down his decision by the time you listen to this,
(18:21):
But I'm going to go out on a limb and
say he'll side with Utah. Judges aren't keen on making
a ruling on a case that doesn't yet exist, even
if it did exist just a few months prior. I'll
also make another prediction. Utah will definitely file the case again.
Mike Lee's defeat in Congress may give them pause, but
I bet they think the Supreme Court is on their side.
(18:42):
If they wait, one of their allies on the bench
might die or retire. So I think we'll see this
case resurrected before too long. When they do, they'll try
to claim again that they want to transfer the land
from federal to state ownership. We're not taking away public land,
They'll say, we're just letting the states manage it that
was a lie, then it'll be a lie in the future.
(19:03):
But now Utah has admitted it. Time for another legislative roundup.
A lot happening lately as usual. A bipartisan bill titled
the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act has passed
the US Senate and is now on its way to
the House. The bill was sponsored by three Republican senators
(19:23):
from Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, major red snapper fishing states.
It instructs the National Institute of Standards and Technology and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a fast
acting test to determine the origin of fish suspected of
being poached. Alabama Senator Katie Britt and her fellow Gulf
(19:44):
state sponsors assert that Mexican fishing boats are entering US
waters to take advantage of the denser schools of red
snapper created by fishery protections. The poached fish are then
sold into the US market at lower prices, threatening the species,
undermining a maria and commercial fishing operators, and allegedly funneling
money to drug cartels. The bill references a rapid test
(20:06):
recently developed by scientists at Florida State University that confirms
whether a fish is a real McCoy red snapper. This
test reduces the species testing time from multiple days to
under two hours. But this bill might run into a
couple problems. First, although the Florida State test could catch
other fish species being sold as red snapper, it's not
clear whether it's possible for a test to determine where
(20:29):
a particular red snapper was caught. The genetics of a
fish caught in US waters are likely identical to one
caught off the coast of Mexico. Second, the Trump administration
has announced plans to cut one third of the annual
budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of
the agencies who is supposed to develop the test and
(20:49):
guide its deployment. Maybe the Illegal Red Snapper in Tuna
Enforcement Act would add ammunition to the ongoing House effort
to reduce the NOAH cuts to just six percent of
the current budget. No matter what, we'll keep our eyes
fixed on the Illegal Red Snapper in Tuna Enforcement Act
and see what develops. Staying on the high seas, Florida
(21:10):
recently enacted the so called Boater Freedom Act, which ends
the ability of state and local law enforcement to conduct
routine boat searches unless they have probable cause to do so.
Until now, as in other states, the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Commission could conduct cooler checks to make sure anglers
were fishing in season and abiding by catching size limits.
(21:31):
This is just like a game ward and checking your
bag or truck to see, for example, what you have
in there lead shot, steel shot, valid duck stamp, or
maybe one too many mallards. In defending the law, Florida
Governor On DeSantis compared the kind of routine boat check
to a violation of personal autonomy, saying, quote, if you're
walking down the street, law enforcement can't just go up
(21:51):
to you and stop you and search you. Desanta seems
to be forgetting about Florida Statute nine oh one point
one point five to one, also known as the stop
and Frisk law, which allows for exactly that police can
detain any person if circumstances quote unquote reasonably indicate that
criminal activity might be taking place well short of the
voter Freedom Acts probable cause threshold. Now, I'm not weighing
(22:15):
in either way on stopping frisk. I'm just trying to
see consistency in the application of law enforcement regardless of
whether or not a Florida resident owns a boat. Anyway,
Critics of the Boater Freedom Act reasonably worry about its
effects on fish poaching. Former Florida Wildlife Commission Officer Alan
Richard told the Miami Herald quote, bag limits are irrelevant
(22:38):
if you can't stop a boat and check them. This
one is already law on the books, so it might
be a couple of years before we're able to see
its effect on Florida fish populations. But taking away a
well established tool for conservation enforcement seems like a bad idea.
We'll have to wait and see. The seemingly endless saga
of efforts to delist the grizzly bear from the endangereds
(23:00):
Act added another chapter. This week, the US House Committee
on Natural Resources past House Resolution two eighty one, which
directs the Secretary of the Interior to remove the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem population of bears from the ESA. That measure
will now go to a full vote by the House
of Representatives. I'm conflicted here. I one hundred percent agree
(23:20):
that the gye populations of grizzlies should be delisted. As
we passed the recovery target for bears a long time ago.
A population comeback like this is exactly what the ESA
was designed to do. States should, of course manage hunts
for grizzlies with the same conservation science they apply to
any other species. At the same time, I've never been
a fan of elected officials enacting wildlife policy through legislation,
(23:44):
so this bill would establish a pretty dangerous federal precedent. Still,
the sponsors of the bill point to the Shenanigans of
twenty seventeen, when they Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that
the grizzly should come off the list, just as they
are rightfully authorized to do, but was then challenged in
federal court and delayed long enough for the Biden administration
(24:04):
to come into office, and under new leadership, Fish and
Wildlife withdrew the delisting ruling for plainly political reasons. Taking
lessons from the court hold up. House Resolution two eighty
one would therefore remove judicial review from the grizzly ESA ruling. Again,
I am firmly for delisting these bears, but eliminating legal
review of wildlife law also seems like extremely dangerous precedent.
(24:28):
It's going to be interesting to see what happens when
this bill comes to the floor of Congress. Four Republican
members of the Natural Resources Committee sat out this vote,
which tells you that this issue is a real hot
potato for lawmakers in both parties. So it's by no
means a sure thing that this bill would become law. Nevertheless,
I get a bad feeling about managing wildlife by legislation.
(24:50):
So even if you are an aspiring lower forty eight
grizzly hunter like myself, you may want to encourage your
reps to get the old grizzerbear delisted. The old FACI
Way House Resolution to eighty one may not be the
right path. Sticking with the bruin beet us. Rep. Shri
Tanadar of Michigan has introduced the Don't Feed the Bear's Bill,
(25:12):
whose name seems promising. Will this bill prohibit people from
feeding bears grain and molasses in their backyards? Will it
provide funding for sealed garbage cans and bear hotspot states?
Maybe start a children's educational program about why you gotta
not leave food out, and you know, teach bears that
humans give you food. Alas, No, that's too lofty of
(25:37):
a goal. I suppose Tanadar's bill would instead prohibit hunters
from setting out food on federal public land with the
intent to attract black bears. Tanadar said the bill was
primarily a safety measure to prevent bears from getting habituated
to human food, but federal public land isn't where bears
mainly get into conflict with people. The real drama unfolds
(25:57):
in subdivisions around the bird feeders, bulls, dog food, and
trash cans. In fact, state fishing game agencies use regulated
baiting to successfully manage black bear populations. We talk to
Meat Eater's resident bear guy, Clay Nukeom for comment. He said, quote,
Baiting bears allows hunters to be selective in their harvest.
I see it as a great tool for bear management.
(26:17):
They're chipping away at our methods. I ain't for it.
Baiting gives hunters time to observe the bears coming into
the food source, allowing them to distinguish between a male
bear they can target from a female who might have
cubs nearby, and states often can't control bear numbers to
maintain a healthy carrying capacity without allowing baiting. Tena Doar's
bill now heads to the House Committee on Natural Resources,
(26:40):
which will probably pose a significant hurdle. Still, we'll keep
our eyes on this one and sound the alarm if
it gets to a floor vote. Tough news out of
South Dakota. After years of declining sagegrouse populations, officials have
announced that the native species has likely been extirpated from
the state. During its spring population survey this year, the
(27:01):
Game and Fish Department was not able to locate a
single sage grouse lek. A lek, by the way, spelled
l e k, is defined as a group mating display
where several males exhibit their genetic superiority for prospective mates.
The term comes from the Swedish word lekka, which means
the relaxed play of children. The more you know. Through vocalization, streading,
(27:23):
chest puffing, even excreting scent chemicals, as in the case
of the Mediterranean fruit fly, the fellas in a lek
try to convince the ladies to choose them. Lex are
distinguished from other mating displays because they don't demonstrate any
material benefit to the female, like food or shelter. Female
sage grouse raise their young without help from males, so
they're just looking for a hunky dance partner, not a
(27:46):
long term provider anyway. Because male sage grouse come out
in the open and make a bunch of noise and movements,
lex are the best place to observe and count them.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department upland Game Management Supervisor
Jesse Kohlar told Iany News quote, It's not unusual for
lex to blip out and reactivate when populations rebound, but
(28:06):
with our state population completely drying up, I don't expect
we'll experience those rebounds unless sage grouse disperse from Montana
or South Dakota. Sage grouse have had a tough go
in recent decades as their habitat has been lost and
fragmented by invasive plants, energy development, electrical transmission lines, and
residential sprawl. We talked about delisting grizzlies earlier, but it
(28:29):
could be time to list sage grouse under the Endangered
Species Act. Seems like a tall order because sage grouse
don't typically go hand in hand with energy development, especially
those darn wind towers, transmission lines, tall structures of any kind.
They won't nest anywhere near them. For an in depth
look at this issue, head over to the Mediator dot
(28:50):
com read Sage Marshall's fantastic recent article. Additionally, we'll have
my good friend Ted Cook of the North American Grouse
Partnership on one of our interview episodes coming up here
real quick. As a special sign off, big thank you
to all of our men and women in the Arms services.
In whatever capacity you serve, you make set a high
(29:15):
bar for what a civilians called dedication and commitment. Hats
off to you. Appreciate you doing what you do. That's
all I got for you this week, right in. Let
me know what's going on in your neck of the woods,
and I'll talk to you again soon
Host
Cal Callaghan
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